As members of the Steering Committee for the National Conference Raíces y Alas, we continue to work in the planning now in its final stage. Many items and issues were finalized during our last meeting held in Baltimore on February 25-26, 2014.

The program descriptions for the keynote programs and workshops have been finalized and only a few speakers are left to confirm their participation. All committees and subcommittees led by the Steering Committee, continue to work hard and creatively to produce a conference that is accessible to all those that wish to attend and with a content that will make this event a learning and enriching experience for all participants. More than five hundred participants are expected to attend.

All of us directly involved in the planning and organizing are being challenged by the bible reference we have chosen and committed to follow for our conference:

Luke 5:4: … ‘Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch’. (NAV)

All our programs will challenge our ministries so that they may further develop creatively to meet the growing and changing needs of our communities today; our ministry environment is continuously changing. Our demographics continue to show the diversity of our Parish communities such as the presence of three and more generation families, growth in numbers of our Hispanic youth, youth that are undocumented immigrants or those born in the US from undocumented parents, the needs of our immigrants, the need to share our parishes with ethnically and culturally diverse groups, the growing number of aging population, the growing numbers of incarcerated especially from minority groups, growing needs to prepare lay ministers to serve as pastoral coordinators in parishes where no ordained or vowed religious ministers are available, growing number of poor, growing numbers of unemployed and those with unsustainable wages, and so on… You in ministry know this and more…

Be prepared and open to let Raíces y Alas challenge you by the Spirit that speaks to us through our communities.

This coming month the Raíces y Alas information will be made public so you can register.

Let’s plan to meet in San Antonio in October 2014 in the Raices y Alas national conference!